17 March 2014

Publications

Brainstorming as a Strategy in Teaching Mathematics

By: Mr. Ronaldo A. Punla, Teacher I

Magsaysay National High School

Motivation in a mathematics class is indispensable, although it is a reality that all students

should be properly motivated, especially the poorly motivated ones, the teacher should not ceased

in finding ways to deliver the lesson at hand deliberately and accurately. One way to do is

brainstorming.

Brainstorming is a teaching strategy for releasing ingenuity and for enhancing critical

thinking, especially in mathematics wherein higher order thinking skills of students should be

developed. Students can use this to come up with ideas until the group decides for the best solution.

Similarly, when a teacher wants to expand a subject matter into the values arena, he or she

can often use the power of brainstorming to uncover the non obvious connections. For example, a

teacher might conclude a lesson in multiplication by asking students to brainstorm real-life

situations in which using multiplication would be helpful. The teacher can also ask students to

think open-mindedly about a topic to generate lots of ideas without worrying if any of their ideas

is reasonable or not. He or she might ask students sitting in a small or large group to create a long

list of alternatives, say balancing the home budget or doing long mental division.

In a study conducted by Sdouh (2013), entitled “The Effect Of Using The Strategies Of

Brainstorming And Computer Education In Academic Achievement And The Development

Of Creative Thinking Skills Of Sixth Grade Students In Jordan And Their Attitudes

Towards Learning Mathematics.” the results showed that there are differences with statistical

significance in (∝ ≥,05) among the averages of the academic achievement as well as the skills of

creative thinking of the two groups. The results went for the benefit of the experimental group that

used the strategy of brainstorming. Moreover, the study showed that there are differences with

statistical significance in (∝ ≥,05) for the group that used the strategy of computer education to

learn the engineering unit.

Indeed, if a mathematics teacher truly hopes to release ingenuity and encourage productive

thinking, then he or she needs to use brainstorming techniques. Brainstorming is a key tool that

applies to most problem solving and complicated mathematics concepts. In fact, brainstorming

strategy is an assumed component in many subjects not only in education, but also in other sectors

of the society.

Here are some basic rules for the teacher adopted from Osborn’s four rules:

CRITICISM IS RULED OUT. Adverse judgment of ideas must be withheld until

later.

“FREE-WHEELING” IS WELCOMED. The wilder the idea, the better; it is easier

to tame down than to think up.

17 March 2014

Publications

The teacher explains that everyone’s ideas will be heard and recorded. One thing to

make clear is that the only bad idea is the one that isn’t expressed. The goal is

productive thinking.

QUANTITY IS WANTED. The greater the number of ideas, the greater the likelihood

of winners.

COMBINATION AND IMPROVEMENT ARE SOUGHT. In addition to

contributing ideas of their own, participants should suggest how ideas of others can be

turned into better ideas; or how two or more ideas can be joined into still another idea.

When the brainstorming portion of the group/s is are completed, you may want them

to have the group sort the suggestions by considering their probability, impact,

implications, advantages, disadvantages and priorities. This part is optional. What is

important is to select the best results/ answers to the problem being solved. It’s good if

all groups have best answers.

Reference:

Walid Mahmoud Sdouh. “The Effect Of Using The Strategies Of Brainstorming And

Computer Education In Academic Achievement And The Development Of Creative

Thinking Skills Of Sixth Grade Students In Jordan And Their Attitudes Towards

Learning Mathematics.” May 2013, University of Jerash, Jordan

http://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/viewFile/1050/1084 ret. December 5, 2013

Charles Clark, Updates by Tim Bruxvoort.“Brainstorming: The Dynamic Technique

For Creating Successful Ideas.” Copyright 2012, IntercomsOnline.com, all rights

reserved

http://www.intercomsonline.com/v/vspfiles/downloadables/brainstormingbook.pdf ret.

December 5, 2013